Tag: GE – General Electric

by Debra Fiakas, CFA
A stream of impressive news has been delivered by wind turbine producer Vesta Wind Systems AS (Copenhagen: VWS.CO, US OTC: VWSYF, US ADR: VWDRY) over the last few weeks. Over the last two months the company has received orders for wind power turbines totaling 3,781 megawatts. Customers in the U.S. appear to be quite shy, withholding their names and the final destination of the power projects. Nonetheless, the more transparent European, Chinese and Brazilian customers provide a good view on how well regarded Vestas has become.
Business has been so good Vestas is opening a new nacelle and hub assembly factory in...

by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
Last week, I neglected to discuss Terraform Power (NASD: TERP) in the third quarter update on the other ten clean energy stocks for 2018. I did not notice the omission until after the post had been published, so I decided to write a quick follow-up this week after I had a chance to digest the earnings announcements (including TERP's) which were scheduled for later in the week.
Stock discussion
Clearway Energy, Inc (NYSE: CWEN and CWEN/A)
12/31/17 Price: $18.90 / $18.85. Annual Dividend: $1.133(6.0%). Expected 2018 dividend: $1.26(6.7%) Low Target: $14. High Target: $25.
10/31/18 Price: $19.61/$19.42 ...

Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
July and August saw some mild recovery for the stock market after a difficult first half of 2018. Clean energy income stocks continue to lag the broader market, but my Ten Clean Energy Stocks model portfolio has managed to maintain its lead over its broad market benchmark.
Through August 31st, the model portfolio is up 7.5%, compared to its broad dividend income benchmark SDY, which is up 5.3%. Its clean energy income benchmark YLCO is down 1.2, even after dividend income. The private portfolio I manage, the Green Global Equity Income Portfolio (GGEIP), is slightly behind the...

Last week NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE: NYSE) broke ground on its newest wind power project. The company plans to build 71 wind towers in Wayne County, northeastern Nebraska, outfitting each with General Electric (GE: NYSE)turbines. Called the Sholes Wind Energy Center, the wind farm will have a collective generating capacity near 160 megawatts and require $200 million in to build. Construction is expected to begin in March 2019, to meet a December 2019 planned operational start.
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) has already signed a twenty-year power purchase agreement with NextEra, making return on the Sholes project close to guaranteed. OPPD is the twelfth largest public power utility in the...

by Debra Fiakas CFA In a game of word association many investors might respond Veolia Environmental SA (VIE: P or VEOEY: OTC/PK) at the mention ‘water reclamation.’ General Electric (GE: NYSE) and Siemens (SIE: DE or SIEGY: OTC/PK) might be next choices. These three companies have been ‘go to’ sources for water treatment by municipalities and industry. Indeed, it may take a behemoth to address water issues. In January 2015, the World Economic Forum declared water as the number one crisis impacting the world, recognizing the dire circumstances of water supplies. Over 660 million people - one...

by Debra Fiakas CFA The post “Energy Storage Restart” highlighted General Electric (GE: NYSE) efforts to get back into the market for renewable energy storage. Two of the company’s most recent contract wins requires GE to install lithium-ion batteries rather than its own battery technology. This serves up an entertaining game of ‘who’s the supplier.’ Indeed, GE has partnered with a variety of companies for battery development and any of those could be candidates. One of the reasons GE might have won two utility-scale contracts is its ability to manage large, complex...

by Debra Fiakas CFA A few years ago General Electric (GE: NYSE) built out a manufacturing facility in Schenectady, New York for its sodium-ion batteries. CEO Jeff Immelt declared the company a contender in the energy storage industry. He projected that the company could ring up $500 million in annual sales by 2016, and build to $1 billion a year by 2020 by providing energy storage to utility-scale alternative energy projects. Reality has been a bit different than Immelt's vision. GE ended up shuttering the plant in the Fall 2014, and all but fifty employees were...

Better technology is allowing some wind farm operators to get more out of their existing wind farms by completely repowering the farm - replacing old technology with new - or by conducting performance upgrades on their turbines. Jennifer Runyon There is an old piece of wisdom that states: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But some wind farm operators, especially in Germany and North America, are finding that advice difficult to heed. That's because technology improvements in turbines coupled with software analytics are revealing that signing up for a performance upgrade could allow them...

By Jeff Siegel The road into the digital age has been paved with innovation. Everyday items have been electrified with panels and displays for endless possibilities of interaction. Automobile windscreens, household appliances, even walls and furniture are lighting up all around us, wired with sensors and displays that receive and transmit information. It seems the only surface left to electrify on this road to an everything-digital future is the roadway itself. Some folks believe one day soon, your local road network could be carrying not only the flow of vehicle traffic, but torrential flows of digital data and...

by Debra Fiakas CFA Last week the Aussies invaded New York City, bivouacking at a popular hotel and parading a string of Australia-based companies in front of investors. Of course, there were the usual mining and minerals companies for which resource-rich Australia is so famous. However, the Australia Stock Exchange - one of the event sponsors - has diversified with listings in communications, biotechnology and alternative energy. One of the presenters, Silex Systems, Inc. (SLX: ASX and SILXY: OTCQX) is a talented little company with technologies for solar and nuclear power generation. Silex has developed a laser...

by Debra Fiakas CFA The last post on Chicago Bridge and Iron (CBI: NYSE) noted the entrance of CBI into the nuclear field with the acquisition of The Shaw Group, which has an exclusive relationship with Toshiba Corporation related to the Toshiba Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR). More evolutionary than revolutionary the ABWR is supposed to be superior other designs in its light water reactor class. ABWR produces power by superheating water to the boiling point. The resulting steam is then used to drive a turbine attached to a generator. Other light water reactors also heat...

Tom Konrad CFA Jeffrey Eckel Jeffrey Eckel has an investor relations problem. No, there has not been any scandal involving fudging the books or sweatshop labor. Rather, most investors simply don’t seem to “get” his company. His company recently went public as a REIT, or Real Estate Investment Trust, and the traditional REIT investor likes the familiar. They invest for income, and for many, a track record of past income and dividends is a must. While Eckel’s company manages $1.8 billion of securitized energy efficient and sustainable infrastructure...

Jeff Siegel September 17: Will LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) Become a Penny Stock? LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) has sent a revenue warning and cut its full-year revenue forecast for the second time this year. The company is now expecting Q3 revenue to come in at between $220 million and $260 million. Analysts were expecting more than twice that on the low-end of LDK's estimates with $453.6 million. And to add insult to injury, I overhead an analyst last week saying China solar companies, like LDK, are on a one-way track to penny stock status. Ouch! I was actually at...